Social Media
Social media is as popular as ever, with multiple new social media platforms coming out each month. In 2018, teenagers have access to hundreds of social media platforms, dating sites, anonymous chat sites, and lots more!
In 2017, anonymous chatting apps made a comeback and new apps were even created. Among these, some of them allowed teens to message their friends anonymously and let them say things about the other person. This makes an easier way for teens to bully, because now they can say it without anyone even knowing it was them. We warn parents of these apps. Many teens use these types of apps to send harassing and rude comments or questions to other teens. Other teens use these apps to call their peers ugly or to say things they'd never say in person. If you're a teen on these apps, be cautious. Don't engage in sending rude messages to other people. How would you feel if someone did that to you?
Different Platforms
Some of the most popular social media sites include:
Social Media:
Facebook/Messenger
Snapchat
Tumblr
MeetMe
YouTube
Musical.ly
Kik
Periscope
Top Dating Sites:
Tinder
Match
Coffee Meets Bagel
OkCupid
PlentyOfFish
Zoosk
Bumble
Anonymous Apps:
tbh
After School
Sarahah
Whisper
Creating a Social Media Bio
Most teenagers have a bio on their social media pages, especially apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Teens typically post their ages, birthday, school name, city, and where they work on their bio. This is typically not the best idea for teenagers, because now online predators are able to track somewhat of a location for where you may be. Someone who may be a stalker now has readily available information of where their potential victim might be located. Now, we aren't saying that you shouldn't post anything on social media. However, with that being said, pre-teens and teens should not give away personal information, even in a Facebook or Twitter bio. Everything that's on your social media accounts can in the future, be used against you. You should try not to post exact locations of where you are and things like your age or your job location.
Snapchat Safety
If you're a teenager, there's a high chance you might have the social media app, Snapchat. Millions of teenagers use the app daily, many of them uploading each hour. Snapchat is a mobile messaging service that sends a photo or video to someone that lasts only up to 10 seconds before it disappears. During that time, the recipient can take a screen shot, and the sender is notified that it was taken. A new feature on Snapchat allows you to keep your exact location on the app so all of your Snapchat friends can see it. Many teens don't realize the danger of this. Teens gain many Snapchat friends and often don't delete any, even if they don't know some of the people. If you keep your location on, this allows people you don't even know to access your exact location. That is a very bad decision that tons of teens make everyday. If you have Snapchat, turn your location off in the settings. There is NO reason to have it on. All it does is give predators and adults access to where you are at all times, including when you're traveling.
When you go to your Snapchat app, you can go to your settings and turn your location to 'Ghost Mode' which means that only you can see your location. All of your Snapchat followers wont be able to see it.
Snapchat
To turn off your location, go to your Snapchat settings page. After you get there, click on See My Location and you will be brought to the next page where you will be able to turn Ghost Mode on.
After you click the See My Location tab, you will be brought to the My Location tab where you can configure your location settings. To turn Ghost Mode on, simply click the switch. After it's turned on, everyone on your Snapchat will not be able to see your location.
Social Media Statistics
88% of teenagers have seen someone be mean or cruel to another person on a social media site
55% of parents of 12-year-olds said their child was on Facebook and over 75% said they helped their child gain access
Over 55% of teens have admitted to giving out private information to people they do NOT know
In 2017, over 35% of Facebook users were under the age of 13
25% of high school aged students and 33% of college students have at one time or another, sent a sexually explicit photo to another person.
About 70% of the teen girls who have sexted, 61% have said that they did so because they were pressured. Learn more about sexting.
Think Before You Send
Think about what you post. Sharing sexually explicit photos or intimate details online, even in private texts, can cause you a lot of problems later on. Even people you consider friends can use this info against you, especially if they become ex-friends. Passwords should always be kept private. Don’t share your password, even with your best friends. Pick a password you can easily remember, but no one else can guess.
Be Cautious of Friend Requests
Play it safe and only accept friend requests from friends you know in person.
Friend requests from strangers could be a possible predator or stalker, or could turn out to be spam bots. Fake profiles are also created for cyber bullying. When you receive a new friend request, don't just accept it without even looking at it. If they sent you a friend request and only have one picture on their account and they have no mutual friends with you, then something should seem pretty off to you. Accepting friend requests from people that you don't recognize can be a dangerous game to play sometimes, especially if you have personal information on your accounts.
Think Before You Post
Limit personal information on your profile and posts across ALL social media sites. Never post your phone number or address online. If you want to share this information with a friend, do it directly by phone or text, rather than by posting it where other people can easily see it.
Don't Spam People You Don't Know
If you message someone and they do not respond, don't continue to send them messages asking why they aren't responding. When teens don't respond, there is usually a good reason. Don’t post pictures of others without their permission. Also, if someone asks you to remove a picture, post, or to untag them in a picture, do it! Some teenagers don't like having all of their business online, so respect that if that's how your friend chooses to live their life.
Teen Dating apps
Online dating is quite common for teenagers, even more than parents think. Typically, most real dating sites require you to be 18 to join, however these sites have thousands of underage users, even when they aren't supposed to be on there. There are also many apps and websites meant exclusively for teens, where teenagers can make new friends, start new relationships, and find people they want to date.
Teenagers often don't realize it, but online dating is one of the most dangerous things that teenagers can involve themselves in online.